Relationships
One of the main plot points of Friends is the struggle to find love. The following is a list of relationships the six main characters have had throughout the series, sorted by character. Rachel Barry Farber Barry Farber was engaged to Rachel, but she left him at the alter after she saw a gravy boat that she was more turned on by than Barry. He later married Rachel's ex-best friend, Mindy Hunter. Rachel was a bridesmaid at that wedding. Portrayed by Mitchell Whitfield. Paolo Rachel meets Paolo, a dark, attractive Italian man in The One With The Blackout while trying to return a lost cat (who turns out to be Paolo's). He speaks very little English and starts out as a relationship based around sex. Ross becomes very jealous of Paolo and mocks him behind his back constantly. Rachel breaks up with Paolo after Phoebe reveals to her that he had made a pass at her at her work. Portrayed by Cosimo Fusco. Russ Rachel dates a man named Russ for one episode; he looks and acts eerily similar to Ross. This freaks everyone out, except for Rachel and Ross, who is oblivious and jealous respectively. Rachel breaks up with Russ when she sees him arguing with Ross and finally realizes that they are so similar. Portrayed by David Schwimmer, credited as Snaro. Joshua Bergin Portrayed by ''Tate Donovan. Paul Stevens In season 6, Ross asks his friends to help him look good in front of his college girlfriend's father, Paul. Instead Rachel goes out with him. This lasts only a short while after she learns that he can be extremely emotional. After an entire day of him crying and conjuring up his past memories, she breaks up with him. ''Portrayed by Bruce Willis. Tag Jones Portrayed by ''Eddie Cahill. Gavin Mitchell ''Portrayed by ''Dermot Mulroney. Joey In season eight, Joey develops feelings for Rachel. She politely and lovingly turns him down, but after a dream, begins to have feelings for him. They pursue a romantic relationship in the beginning of season ten, but decide that because of certain circumstances they cannot take it any further. Ross Monica Paul the Wine Guy Paul the Wine Guy was the first of many whom Monica dated on the show. He appeared in The Pilot as a date of hers. He broke her heart when he told her a line he used on many: "Since my wife left me, I haven't been able to perform... sexually". When Monica found out about his scheme, she broke his watch with her foot. Never to speak to him again. Fun Bobby Fun Bobby appeared in Season 1 and then again in Season 2. In "The One With The Monkey", he shows up to Monica's New Years Party, distraught after his grandfather has just died and. In Season 2, Monica gets back together with Bobby, who now has problems with alcohol. Monica successfully tries to help him give up drinking, but once he does, he is not happy or funny anymore. Ethan Ethan appeared in "The One With The Ick Factor". Monica dated him under the impression that he was a senior in college. Ethan dated her under the impression that she was 22. Before sleeping together, Ethan tells Monica that he is a virgin. Afterwards, Monica tells him that she is really 26 to which he reveals that he is really a senior in high school. Monica is repulsed at what she has done and stops calling him. Ethan shows up at Central Perk to try and change her mind, but she tells him that "it's icky". They come to the conclusion that they could have had something special if their age gap wasn't so drastic, or if they lived in "Biblical times". ''Portrayed by Stan Kirsch. Jean-Claude Van Damme Monica has a very brief stint with Jean-Claude Van Damme in Season 2 after seeing him on the set of Outbreak 2: The Virus Takes Manhattan. Too nervous to talk to him, she makes Rachel do it for her. Jean-Claude is instead interested in Rachel. After fighting with Monica, Rachel sets her and Jean-Claude up on a date, maliciously telling Jean-Claude that Monica wanted to have a threesome with him and Drew Barrymore. Richard Burke Monica's longtime boyfriend Richard Burke, twenty-one years her senior, was introduced to her when she was a child as her old optician and family friend. Later, they met at her parent's party where she and Phoebe are helping. Monica and Richard dated for a long time, keeping it secret from her parents as she knew that they would be shocked. They did found out and after inital shock, accepted it. They eventually broke up because Richard did not want to have children again, whereas Monica was desperate for them. Julio In "The One With All The Jealousy", Monica hooks up with "poet" Julio from work. She dumps him when she learns that he is an arrogant, sexist jerk. Pete Millionare who invented MOS-865 (Friends universe alternative to MS-DOS). At first Pete had feelings for Monica that she did not reciprocate, despite as hard as she tried. Later he comes back offering her a job in a restaurant he bought, hoping to win her affection. She realized she did develop an attraction to him, and they started dating. Monica eventually broke up with him, when Pete decided to join a MMA type league and was continued beaten up. She tried to make him stop, and broke up with him as she could not deal with the pain of seeing him fight. Chip Matthews In "The One With The Cat", Monica goes on a date with Rachel's old high school boyfriend Chip Matthews. She latter dumps as Chip had not matured at all since high school. But she was satisfied as she dated and broke with high school Chip. Timothy Burke In "The One With Chandler In A Box", Monica runs into Richard's son, Timothy, but it doesn't go far after they realize how weird the situation would be. Chandler Phoebe David Phoebe and the sweet, geeky David met when he was arguing with collegue Max during her song at the coffee house. She used her intimidating presence to force David to explain and he blurted out that he was commenting that she was "the most beautiful woman he'd ever seen and was luminant with an unearthly grace". They stayed together until New years Eve, when he was given the oppurtunity to go to Minsk to research 'distillation of sub-atomic particles'. He orginally refused because of his commitment to Phoebe , but she told him he had to go because she realized how much it had torn him and Max apart. David came back from Minsk twice , as a break and after he discovered that his sub-atomic particle reseach was impossible. The first time they had a date and spent the evening together. While Phoebe was with Mike, he visited a second time and Phoebe and Mike nearly broke up. However they resolved. As mentioned before, David returned to propose to Phoebe but was turned down. After that he was never seen on the show again. Duncan In The One With Phoebe's Husband, we learn that Phoebe married her gay friend, Duncan, from Canada because he needed a green card. Now, six years later he shows up and tells Phoebe that he discovered he is straight and needs a divorce because he is getting married to another woman. Phoebe is very upset by this because she was beginning to fall in love with him. Monica states that after Duncan left (the first time) that she stayed in her pajamas for a month and that she even saw her eat a cheeseburger. Phoebe signs the divorce papers and gives Duncan one last kiss before asking "So, your brother is straight, huh?" Portrayed by Steve Zahn Mike When Joey and Phoebe Agreed to do a blind double date with each other, Joey forgot until the last minute, when he randomly chose the name Mike as the fictional man he had chosen for her. Realising he didnt know any men, let alone men called Mike. In desperation, he ran into Central Perk shouting "Mike!". Luckily, Mike Hannigan was there, and he fixed him up with Phoebe. However, on the date, Phoebe realised that they didn't know each other, and they did not meet again until the end of the episode. They started dating, but broke up with the re-arrival of David from Minsk. In Barbados, they returned, and both men proposed to her. Mike went first, and she chose him before David had a chance, but did not want to marry yet. Later, Mike was going to propose to her on the big screen at a Knicks game, but before he did she commented on how tacky the idea was, so he left to cancel the plan making her realise what she had done. To compensate she decided to propose to him in the same way, after being told by the others it didn't seem too desperate. However the crowd at the game thought otherwise and Mike did not have a chance to reply over the booing and insults. Mike tried again by putting the ring in a chocolate cake, but she again accidently commented on the idea's cheesyness, so he decided to simply and blatantly get down on one knee and propose. She said yes, and they got married several episodes later. In the last episode, they decide to have a bunch of kids (so Phoebe can teach them to sing and re-enact the Sound of Music- but without the Nazis). Joey Rachel In season eight, Joey develops feelings for Rachel. She politely and lovingly turns him down, but after a dream, begins to feel the same way. They pursue a romantic relationship in the beginning of season ten, but decide that because of certain circumstances they cannot take it any further. Every girl in New York Joey has not had many long-term relation ships due to his commitment issues and lack of morals in that area. However he has reputedly had a one night stand with every woman in New York, or Manhattan at least. Rachel joked that he had gone out with every girl and was going around for a second time. In Central Perk he got the confidence to ask out a girl but didn't because he remembered he had slept with her. Chandler Monica Before Ross's second wedding, to Emily Waltham, a drunk man mistakenly thought Monica was Ross's mother. This remark distressed her greatly, and she got drunk and looked for comfort in Chandler. They slept together and had a secret relationship for the next half series. Eventually Joey, Rachel and Phoebe all found out about their relationship, and they took vengeance over the dishonesty by playing mind games with them, during which Chandler accidently blurted out his love for Monica. Due to Ross's insecurities they kept the relationship hidden from him. He accidently saw them making love through a window, and the secrecy issue was resolved. After getting angry with Chandler, he calmed down when he learned they were in love. A year later, during the trip to Las Vegas, they toyed with the idea of getting married. They would've gone through with it, but were too shocked to continue when they saw Ross and Rachel burst out of the chapel. After they got back home, they decided to move in together. For the next year, they had a steady relationship with a few ups and downs, mainly related to their respective long time exes, Janice and Richard. Chandler decided to propose to Monica, but at the dinner they were interupted by Richard. To throw her off the scent, Phoebe advised that he should pretend that he hated marriage. However, after this Richard declared his love for Monica and she almost left Chandler, but Joey told her the truth about his hatred for marriage. She then attempted to propose to him instead, but she was too shaken, so Chandler did it. Janice Chandler and his whiny nasal ex-girlfriend Janice have been on and off more than Ross and Rachel. Their relationship is one of the show's many signature recurring gags. When the show began they were together, but they broke up eventually as she was driving Chandler crazy. On the New Year's Eve of that year, Chandler was desperate to have a woman to kiss at midnight, so he phoned her and got together again. The same night he broke up with her again to her great distress. Two months later they got together again but Chandler broke it up on Valentine's day up due to her annoying character traits. By now though, Janice had wisened up and knew he'd be back again, or to put it in her words: "Your voice calls out to me like a foghorn- Jaaaniiice, Jaaaaaaaaaniiice". After his breack up with Kathy, he ran into Janice at a nail salon and she had just gotten divorced. He pretended he had to move to Yemen to avoid breaking up with her. Janice reappeared several times but did not strike up a relationship again, though when she was in labour she told him it was his baby as a joke. Chandler twice employed a trick of pretending he still had feelings for her to get rid of her. When she was staying at their appartment, he said it to make her leave, and when she wanted buy the house next to their new one, he pretended he had feelings for her and wanted to have an affair. Kathy When they met in Central Perk, Chandler immediately began to flirt. However, she had already met Joey who had used his irrissistable charm on her. Chandler had an immense crush on her for the next few episodes. They were obviously better matched, and kissed on her birthday. He told Joey, who broke up with her and shunned Chandler. However when Joey realised how much they cared for each other he gave Chandler the OK and they formed a relationship. She dumped him however when he accused her of sleeping with her co-star in a play where she played a prostitute. After that he was depressed for one episode. Ross Rachel Julie End Season 1 - Mid Season 2. Went to graduate school with Ross and they haven't seen each other until Ross reunited with Julie on a dig in China because she was in charge. Ross breaks up with Julie to be with Rachel. Bonnie End Season 3. When introduced to Ross, Phoebe told Rachel that she used to shave her head bald; but Rachel grows jealous after noticing her hair has grown back. She persuades Bonnie to shave her head again, much to Ross' dismay. He breaks up with her after cheating on her with Rachel. Emily Mid Season 4 - Beginning of Season 5 (Makes a special appearance in Season 6). Niece of Rachel's former boss at Bloomingdales. Rachel was supposed to show Emily around New York, but Ross went instead. Ross and Emily ended in a Bed and Breakfast in Vermont their first weekend together. Ross was engaged to Emily within 6 episodes. Elizabeth Mid Season 6 - End of Season 6. NYU student who took one of Ross's Paleontology classes. Mona End of Season 7 - Season 8. Mona met Ross and Chandler and Monica's wedding, as she worked at the restaurant. Charlie Season 9 - Season 10. When Ross is assigned by work to show new professors around town, he meets the beautiful, intelligent Charlie. They become friends. He invites her to Joey's roof party, and after being discouraged from making a move on her by her extensive list of extremely intelligent ex-boyfriends, Rachel and Phoebe stir him to give it a shot. However she makes out with Joey before he gets a chance. Later on during the trip to Barbados, Joey and Charlie agreed to a friendly break-up due to their difference in interests. Seizing his chance, Ross kissed her and Joey complied, knowing full-well that they were perfect for each other. Category:Relationships